One Less Secret
by baby8love
Summary: Lightman/Foster, of course. Spoilers from "Control Factor".
1. Chapter 1

Cal had waited around the corner for just the right moment to jump out but neither Jack nor Gillian seemed all too surprised to see him. "So…going to dinner?"

"Yes, actually, we are going to dinner…unless that's a problem with you." Jack smiled smugly, knowing perfectly well how much it bothered Cal that he had asked Gillian out on a date.

"Of course it isn't a problem." Gillian interjected, giving Cal a pointed look. "Right, Cal?"

"Right, yeah…um…but, there's something I need to speak to you about…right away." He pointed at Jack. "I hope that's not a problem with you." Without waiting for Jack's response, he began heading towards his office.

"Cal, don't be difficult." Gillian's voice was in a warning whisper. Despite knowing what was going to be said, she followed him out of the lobby and into his office.

He took his time, making sure the door was fully closed behind them before speaking again. "Jack Rader? Really? I mean, I know that your divorce is final now and he sent you flowers before but…a date? With him?"

"I know he's not your favourite person but you're the one with the problem with him, not me. He's been nothing but a gentleman to me."

"That's cuz the man's a snake!" He pointed angrily at the general direction where Jack was still waiting.

"Just cuz I'm not a natural like you doesn't mean I haven't learned a few things over the past six years working here. I can still tell when someone's trying to pull one over on me."

"I'm not undermining your skills. That isn't what I meant."

"Why don't you just tell me what happened between you and Rader? Maybe then, I'd understand."

He shook his head in frustration. "It's a long story…"

"Fine. Then I'm going." Her tone told him this discussion was over.

"Just be careful."

She gave him one final glance before leaving.

*****

Ria had watched the entire scene unfold from the kitchen. After Gillian had left with Jack, Cal had burrowed in his office, obviously not wanting to answer any questions any of his staff might've had. The same questions Ria had herself. She headed straight for the lab where she found exactly who she was looking for. "Hey, what's the deal with Lightman and Rader, anyway?"

Eli smiled, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. He was watching a clip on the mating ritual of Bengal tigers. "What do you think is the deal with them?"

"If you dunno the answer, you could just say so." She turned to leave but stopped when Eli held up a folder. "What is that?"

"Unpaid interns do the dirty work – background checks, research on history, that kinda stuff. Usually bores me to death but, this time, I had fun." He handed her the folder and began spouting information that was within it. "Jack Rader was a student of sorts of Lightman's. In a couple of interviews, actually, Rader's referred to Lightman as his mentor. But instead of working for Lightman, the guy opened up his own firm shortly after the Lightman Group was established. In fact, Rader's firm actually took a few high-profile cases from out under Lightman's nose."

"Ouch. That couldn't have gone well over with Lightman."

"Yeah, it's never fun when a student upstages the teacher. When Rader was here, he kept preaching to me about how Lightman never appreciates other people's skill sets and accomplishments…"

"He tried to poach you?" Ria asked with slight amusement.

"Is that so surprising? I might've been demoted but my skills haven't been."

"Right…" She continued smiling.

"Anyway, I thought the guy got tired of living in Lightman's shadow and just decided to do his own thing."

"He seemed arrogant enough to do something like that. Wait…you said you **thought** that was what happened? What do you mean?"

Eli grinned, clearly enjoying knowing more than Ria. "I did a bit more digging and found this." He tapped a few keys on his keyboard and pulled up a website on his computer.

Ria bent over to read the screen. "Rader was arrested before?"

"Mmhmm…for some fraud scheme. I skimmed through the article. He was never charged. Ended up being a primary witness. This happened exactly six years ago."

"Which is when Lightman started this place…"

"And when Rader started his. I'm guessing whatever caused the rift between them is related to this case." He poked his screen with his pen.

"Huh…" Ria patted him on the shoulder. "Good job, Loker. I think you have a real future as an unpaid intern." When he looked at her indignantly, she smiled to let him know she was joking.

*****

"I take it Lightman gave you a hard time for agreeing to have dinner with me tonight." Jack smiled, taking a sip of his wine.

"I'm a big girl, I can make decisions for myself."

"Good. I'm glad. Whatever happened between me and him, it would be a pity to let that get in the way of…us."

Gillian looked at her dinner date and studied his face for a moment. "I hope you don't make me regret agreeing to this dinner."

"I never disappoint. But I guess you've heard otherwise."

"You know, I only know that things ended badly between you and Cal. He's never spoken a word to me about what happened."

"He may have a compulsive need to uncover everyone else's secrets but when it comes to his own, he's almost a little too good at keeping them."

"I take that as a hint that I shouldn't ask you for details?"

"There's plenty of time for you to get to know me." When Gillian gave him a look that told him she was dissatisfied with his answer, he added, "I will say this – I don't regret what I did and despite how things have ended up, I will always see him as my mentor. He taught me everything I know. My only regret is that because of what I did, I never got the chance to work with you."

"Are you always this smooth?"

"I'm just being honest." He flashed her another grin before picking up his menu. "So, you ready to order?"


	2. Chapter 2

Gillian stopped in her tracks as she opened the door to find Cal seated at her desk. She frowned, dropping her jacket on the couch. "Did you forget that your office is next door?"

"You're late."

"It's 8:55 so, actually, I'm early. You see, Cal, most people go to work at 9:00."

"But you usually get here by 8:30."

She stood in front of her desk, looking down at him with a hand on her hip. "How about you just get to your point?"

"Did you have a late night?" He asked innocently.

"I can't believe you're doing this."

"What? It's a simple question. Unless, of course, your answer is a complicated one then…"

"I'm not doing this with you…" She held her hand up to make her point before turning on her heels and heading for the door.

"Oh, I get it. So you **did** have a late night." He followed closely behind. "What'd you do? Was it a movie after dinner? Maybe he tried a bit of funny business with you?"

She stopped and looked around. They were getting curious glances from the others in the hallway but one look from her and they all hurried on their way. "What are you doing?" She spoke in a hushed voice.

"Asking you a question? Being a nosy bastard?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "And you're avoiding me."

"Because it's none of your business!"

"Right, except that it is. You're my partner and I know Jack Rader better than you. If I have any reason to suspect that he's trying to take you from me…"

"Ahem." Ria cleared her throat to get their attention.

They both looked at her, annoyed by the interruption. "What?"

"The Mulligans are here."

Cal struggled for a moment. He wanted desperately to stay and continue questioning Gillian but he knew he had to go. Work trumped everything else. "This isn't over."

Gillian rolled her eyes at him and walked away.

Ria stayed silent, waiting for her instructions but Cal simply looked at her as if to tell her to mind her own business. After he, too, walked away, Ria decided to pursue the easier of the two targets. "Hey, Foster?"

"Yeah?"

"I uh…ok, before I get into this, I just want you to know that I don't mean to be nosy or to cross any lines but…"

"Then don't." She said pointedly.

"I think you should know that Lightman asked me to…keep an eye on Rader while we were in Mexico."

"He asked you to spy on him?"

"Something like that…" Ria knew she would have to forge on if she were to find any answers. "But he meant well, I'm sure."

"He always means well."

The sarcasm in her voice didn't go undetected by Ria. "I know it's none of my business but maybe he has a point. I mean, I didn't really get to meet Rader but from what Loker told me, the guy sounds like a complete…"

"Oh, now Loker's involved too?" Gillian threw her head back and gave a tired sigh. This just got better by the minute.

"Yeah, and I probably will regret telling you this but…he did a bit of a background check on Rader."

"What?!" Gillian was ready to unleash a tirade on Ria but stopped herself, her curiousity getting the best of her. "What did he find?"

*****

Loker looked like a deer caught in headlights when Ria told him to hand over his information on Jack to Foster. "I…"

"Don't even try to deny it, Loker. I just want to see what you found." Gillian extended her hand out to him, waiting for the folder.

He sighed in defeat. He handed her the folder before turning to Ria. "Remind me to never suggest you to the CIA if they ever needed a new spy. You would suck at it."

Ria gave him a 'bite me' look before looking at Gillian. "The guy's just not as innocent as you think."

"I knew he had a complicated past. I gathered that much from what little information Cal's let slip to me over the years." Gillian skimmed through the papers. "The fraud case he was arrested for…do you have the name of the guy they ended up charging?"

Loker swiveled around to face his computer again. "Um…it was John something…"

"John Hastings?"

"Yeah…" He stopped typing. "How'd you know that?"

"Just a hunch." With that, she left the lab.

"Wh-…what was that?" Loker shook his head. "Why does she and Lightman like leaving us high and dry like that?"

Ria shrugged. "I dunno but it looks like this is a lot more complicated than we first expected. You know, I thought that Lightman just had a problem with Foster and Rader cuz he was jealous…"

"Oh no, he's definitely jealous. And for good reason, I mean, Rader's successful, good-looking, and he's definitely got better social skills than Lightman. If I were him, I'd be feeling pretty threatened too."

"You sound pretty impressed with Rader. You sure he didn't manage to convince you to jump ships?"

"Even though I'm frustrated with the position Lightman's left me in, I know better than to leave this place. Why be in this field if you're not gonna learn from the best? And no matter how good Rader is, he's not the best."

*****

Gillian found Cal in his office. "Finished speaking with the Mulligans already?"

He looked up, glancing at her over the rim of his glasses. "Yeah, standard questioning. Already ruled them out as suspects. I thought you wouldn't want to speak to me for, at least, a couple of hours. Couldn't stay away, love?"

She smiled, clutching the folder in her hand confidently. "I'm beginning to feel like Loker deserves to be promoted back to his previous position."

"What? Why?" He took off his glasses and pointed at the folder in her hand. "What's that?"

"Information you can't run away from." When he said nothing, she continued, "I remember when you came to me six years ago with the idea for the Lightman Group. You seemed like a completely different man from the one I knew before."

"What **is** that folder?"

She ignored his question. "The man I knew back in the day was a petty criminal."

"Oh, that's hurtful." He feigned pain, bringing his hand up to his chest.

"You conned people. I think that makes you a petty criminal." Again, he stayed silent. "I also remember you running the game with a buddy named John Hastings." He barely flinched but she knew she had hit a nerve. "Then, suddenly, six years ago, he disappeared and you wanted to clean up your act."

"What is this about?"

"I don't think it's a coincidence that he happened to get arrested right when you and Rader decided to part ways. I have all the pieces of the puzzle but I need you to put them together for me." She finally handed him the folder in question but he didn't open it. "C'mon, Cal, you can't keep me in the dark forever. If you haven't been able to forgive Rader for this long, then it's something I need to know about."

"I warned you about him."

"But you never told me why!"

He stared at her, considering everything. He knew he couldn't avoid it for much longer, especially not with Jack sniffing around Gillian these days. "Sit down."


	3. Chapter 3

"I knew it was bad news when you asked to see me before our second date tonight." Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair. Gillian had called earlier in the day to tell him she would be showing up in his office later. "Did Lightman get to you?"

"No." She shook her head. "I guess it's one of the pitfalls of our job…always having to know the truth. I came across some information about your past…"

"I didn't peg you to be the judgmental type."

She bristled at his suggestion. "I'm not. But when I asked Cal about it…"

"He finally told you." He laughed, looking down at his hands. "I didn't think he would. I guess I underestimated just how much you mean to him."

His words broke her train of thought. She hadn't expected him to say that.

Interpreting her expression correctly, he laughed again. "For someone who has worked day in and day out with him for the past six years, you sure are clueless about what he really wants."

"Oh, and you, who has basically not been in the same room as him for the past six years…you know what he wants?"

"Of course. He wants what he's always wanted. He hasn't gotten it yet so, it's only natural that he still wants it." At her questioning look, he explained, "When I pointed the finger at John Hastings, Lightman wasn't mad that I had betrayed his friend…he was mad cuz he knew with Hastings out of the picture, he would be forced to make a decision about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life."

"Don't tell me you're gonna try to twist this around and make it sound like what you did was noble."

He shook his head. "Well you can't stand there and tell me I was completely wrong either. Hastings was as much of a conman as Lightman and I were. He deserved to go to jail."

"So did you but you didn't have to because you put all the blame on Hastings."

"Lightman had an opportunity to go to the police and to tell them the truth. He could've gone and confessed. They would've taken us both to jail along with Hastings but he didn't. He's no less guilty than I am. But that's not my point. My point is…with his conman buddy out of the picture, Lightman was free to do whatever the hell he wanted and that included going clean. You know as well as I do how hard it was to convince him to go clean while Hastings was still around. You remember how it was…"

She nodded, finally agreeing with something he said. John Hastings was a virus she was glad had been cleaned from Cal's life. She had been so grateful for it six years ago, she had never questioned him where his partner had disappeared to. "Not even Zoe could convince him."

"Exactly. And yet, the moment Hastings was gone he came to you. Not to his wife, not to save Hastings, but to you. He came to you."

"What are you trying to say, Jack?"

He grinned. "When he was finally free to be a better man, the first person he wanted to show off his new life to was you. I think you know exactly what I'm trying to say."

*****

Cal was waiting at her door when she got home. Nothing he did ever surprised her anymore. She fished her keys out of her purse and entered the apartment before acknowledging his presence. "Are you gonna come in?"

He nodded, grateful for the invitation. "So…you talk to Rader?"

"Were you afraid I wouldn't come home? That he'd convince me to…"

"Yes." He answered almost too quickly.

She looked at him. "You know, considering we've worked together for six years and known each other for much longer, you'd think you would've developed some level of trust for me by now."

"I **do** trust you. It's Rader I don't trust."

Too tired to continue this exchange, she sighed. "I told him it would be best if we kept our relationship platonic."

"That's…good." He tried to keep his voice as casual as possible. When she didn't respond, he asked, "Did he try to deny anything? Twist anything around?"

"Tried but didn't put much effort into it. I think he knew better than to bother with me."

"I hope you know I really do trust you. It's just…" He trailed off, struggling for the right words.

"You don't trust Rader. You were afraid he'd steal me from you. You didn't wanna lose me." She smiled.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" He shrugged, masking his true feelings with a smug smile. "Rader's alright but he's not me. I knew you'd stay."

She swatted his arm playfully. "You're all confidence and egotism now but just this morning, you looked ready to cry when I wouldn't tell you about my first date with him."

"Cry? Please, I was just worried about you, that's all." He pulled his phone out and pretended to play around with it. "Hey, hungry? How about some take-out?"

"Oh, no way…" She grabbed his phone from him. "I was supposed to have my second date with Jack tonight and you ruined that so, it's gonna take more than just take-out for you to make it up to me. Make a reservation at the new French restaurant downtown. I'm gonna go change."

"Slipping into something more comfortable for me, I see?" He raised his eyebrows cheekily.

She threw his phone back at him. "Make the reservation, Cal. I'll be ready in a minute."

He smiled as she disappeared into her room. Everything was going to be ok and that brought comforting warmth to him. He might be out a few bills tonight but he knew it would be worth it. With Gillian, it was always worth it.


End file.
